According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), more than 29 million Americans have been diagnosed with diabetes. In addition, it’s estimated that diabetes goes undetected in almost one of four Americans. As diabetes continues to remain one of the top leading causes of death in the United Sates, the ADA estimates that the total cost of diabetes in the United States stands at$245 billion, which means one in five healthcare dollars is spent treating diabetes and its complications.

Furthermore, the ADA reports that another 86 million people have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes, which means that they have higher than average levels of blood sugar. Without testing, people do not know they have this condition. If left untreated or ignored, many individuals with pre-diabetes will develop diabetes (usually type 2).

Just 5% of body weight loss could take obese a long way to fight type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease. Acting on this insignificant proportion could play significant role in lives of people suffering from obesity. This is a new finding by researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.

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Earlier, it was suggested to reduce body weight by about 5 to 10% for good health. But now, the experts recommend something else. “Five percent is really a very reasonable goal for most obese patients to achieve, it’s much easier than 10%”, said senior author Dr. Samuel Klein of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.

For the study, the researchers put 40 participants on goals to either reduce their body weight by 5, 10 or 15%, or to stay at their current body weight. There were 19 participants, out of 20, to be able to achieve the target of 5% w

eight loss. Some of them even reduced more than that. The average weight of participants was about 106 kg, which was reduc

ed to 100.8 kg after achieving the target of 5%.

The results of the tests disclosed the facts that people who targeted 5% of their body weight were able to reduce overall fat mass. In those people, there was improvement in function of the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Improvement was also seen in sensitivity of their liver and muscle to the effects of the hormone insulin. Reduction in weight by more than 5% could improve these functions even more, as per the study.